Germany coach Silvia Neid admitted even she was surprised by ease with which her side won against a team who qualified by finishing third at the 2014 African Championship.

“We had judged them to be better than they were today,” said Neid.

“We outran them and are glad that we took home the three points. Ivory Coast came up quite a bit, it was a different style, and it was very easy to get behind their lines – we know that Norway will be much tougher on Thursday.”

Ivory Coast coach Clementine Toure admitted it was a tough learning experience for her girls.

“From this game, we have positive points we can take out – the experience.

“It’s our first participation in the World Cup, and our girls discovered something today – a high level of competition, and it did have an effect on us a little bit.

“We must forget the score from today, forget the negative points, and learn from this. Playing the best team in the world is also the best way to learn for us.”